Seal-lock.



No. 662,9l5.

(lo IodaL) Patented-Dec. 4, I900. 6. D. DANFURTH.

SEAL LUCK.

(Application filed my 5, 1899. Renewed Api'. 80, 1900i F'slm ilfiiififimflg UbJiiTFlD dramas Farmer @rrrbn.

GEORGE D. DANFOR IH, OF TYNGSBOROUGl-I, MASSACHUSETTS.

SEAL LOQl.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,915, dated December 4., 1900.

application filed May 5, 1899. Renewed April 30. 1900- Berial No. 14.918. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE D. DANFORTH, of 'lyngsborough, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seat Locks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and efficient seal for use in securing the door of a freight-car, the lid of a box, a package, or any other article of similar nature from being opened or tampered with; and it is designed more especially to replace the lead seal which is commonly used and which, as is well known, may be easily taken apart and replaced without showing that it has been misused.

To these ends the invention consists of a seal having certain features of construction and arrangement of parts, as illustrated upon the drawings, described in the following specification, and set forth in the appended claims.

0f the drawings, Figure 1 represents my invention as applied to a freightcar, a portion of the door and frame thereof being shown in section. Fig. 2 represents the same in front elevation. Fig. 3 represents the casing. Fig. at represents a longitudinal section on the line 4: 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 representsa section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 represents the metallic ribbon detached. Fig. 7 represents the numerals or symbols which are placed upon the ribbon. Fig. 8 represents the invention as being employed for locking the lid of a box.

In the said drawings similar letters of reference indicate similar parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Referring to the drawings, a indicates a staple, which in Fig. 1 is shown as being secured to the frame of the door and in Fig. 8 as being attached to the front wall of a box, and 1) indicates a casing fastened in place upon the door by the bolts Z) and nuts N, as indicated in Fig. 1, or else secured directly upon a hasp c, which is hinged to the lid of the box, as shown in Fig. 8 The casing may be formed in two parts or members, as shown in Fig. 4, said parts beingindicated at b and b, respectively. b at its edges to receivethe member 19 and the two are locked together by bolts 1), which The member has flanges engage portions of both of them. Each of the members of the casing is provided with an internal shoulder or catch 1), while the opposing wall is curved to receive it, the catches and curved walls being at different distances from the ends of the casing. Hence a passage-way is left between said members which has a contracted mouth 9 at either end, said passage-way being reverse-curved and each curve having a hook or catch projecting into it.

d, Fig. 6, indicates a metallic strip or ribbon which is adapted to be wound or bent around the staple and passed through the passage-way in the casing Z), the mouths of the said passage-way being substantially equal in width to the thickness of the two layers of the ribbon, as shown in Fig. 4-. Each half of the ribbon is provided with apertures cl d to register with the catches b in the casing, and the ends of said ribbon are inserted in the left end of the casing, as shown in Fig. 4. l/Vhen the ends of the ribbon are passed through the passageway in the casing, the catches enter the apertures (Z d therein and prevent the withdrawal of the ribbon in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. In inserting the free ends of the ribbon they pass freely through the passage-way, since the opposing faces of the walls 19 b are curved and the projections or catches b are inclined at one edge, as shown. As soon, however, as the catches register with the apertures d d the resiliency of the ribbon causes it to spring into engagement with said catches and thereafter prevent its withdrawal, except after cutting it to disengage it from the staple.

From the description thus given it will be seen that the seal comprising the casing having the internal catches and the ribbon is very simple and at the same time effective in preventing the removal of the ribbon otherwise than by cutting it..

In order to prevent the ribbon being cut and another one inserted in its place surreptitiously, and thus defeating the object of the invention, the ribbons are all properly numbered or provided with other symbols which are known to the authorities of the railroad.

Forinstance, in Fig. 7 the numerals on the outer side or face denote the name of the station from which the car carrying the seal is shipped,whereas the numerals 136, which are on the inner face of the ribbon, represent a secret symbol that is known only to the freight agent or to the one immediately in charge of the station. The ribbons may be consecutively numbered with the private mark of the authorities and a record of each one kept in a proper journal, or else they may be marked in other ways, as desired. When the ribbon is locked in place, the private mark is concealed, being on the inner face of the ribbon.

The staple Cb, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is inclined with respect to the edge of the frame of the door, so that it intersects the ribbon at an angle other than a right angle, and the edge a of the staple, which faces the bend of the ribbon, is sharp, so that when the door is opened it will engage the ribbon at the fold or bend and severit. By arranging the staple at an angle, as shown, the cutting edge engages the ribbon at the upper edge and then at points successively farther and farther from said edge. The ribbon may be likewise notched, as shown in Fig. 6, to reduce its width at the point of cutting.

The seal is well adapted not only for freightcars, but for boxes, traveling-bags or satchels, trunks, chests, and other similar articles.

The reverse-curved passage-way described in connection with the hooks or catches, one of which projects into each curve, prevents disengagement of the ribbon by pushing the ends toward the left from the right-hand end of the casing, (looking at Fig. 4,) because any such pushing that might deflect the ribbon so as to disengage it from the nearest catch would but the more positively hold the ribbon bent toward the base of the farther catch and prevent unauthorized removal of the seal. The passage-wayis formed, as above stated, with a contracted mouth at each end. Therefore since the passage-way is open at each end the ribbon may be inserted from one end, and after it has been destroyed or broken it may be removed from the other end. This is essential because since the books or catches are indestructible in the sense that they cannot be destroyed or defaced by the ribbon there must be some means for removing the broken ribbon in order that the seal-casing and its hooks may be used again and repeatedly in connection with new ribbons.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be embodied or all of the modes of its use, I declare that what I claim is l. A seal and lock combined, comprising a staple, a casing having a passage-way that is curved in opposite or reverse directions, said passage-way being provided with a contracted mouth at each end, and integral catches projecting one into each curve of the passageway, and a ribbon adapted to be folded around the staple and to have its end or ends passed into or through said passage-way, said ribbonbeing formed with apertures to receive said catches.

2. A seal comprising a staple, a casing, and a ribbon adapted to be secured in said casing and bent around said staple, said staple being provided with a knife-edge facing toward the bend of the ribbon,su bstantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE D. DAN FORTH.

Witnesses:

MARCUS B. MAY, P. W. PEZZETTI. 

